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EU Commission applauds Rejection of Software Patent Directive

20th July 2005 -- In a press release, the European Commission interprets the rejection of its directive by the European Parliament as a confirmation of the "status quo", defined by the practice of the European Patent Office. The Commission extensively quotes pro-patent lobby group EICTA as representative of Europe's ICT industry and attributes the opposition to the directive to the US-based Open Source And Industry Alliance (OSAIA). EICTA is quoted as saying that the Parliament's decision was a wise one.

The text avoids any mention of FFII. Nor is there any mention of the 21 cross-party amendments, whose imminent adoption had led the pro-patent forces to ask for rejection. In fact no voice from the European Parliament is quoted.

"Critics of the CII patent law --- led by the Open Source and Industry Alliance (OSAIA) --- claim copyright law already adequately protects software inventions and that patenting would just raise the cost of innovating." That's an article by the European Commission, you just can't believe how they keep trying to spin it, even after they've lost. At least they talk fairly consistently about software patents (and not about "CII's") in that article.

And of course our friend Mark MacGann gets to fill half the article with his opinions as well. Is this really what our public money is spent on?